Chekov and Jessi
by LieutenantBear
Summary: Jessi had a rough day in Sick Bay and Chekov tries to help her, but just seems to make it worse for both of them.


Jessi Hutchins frantically shouted orders, as Lieutenant Aster lay unmoving in Sick Bay. The nurses were rushing around trying to keep up with her, but she was talking very fast, and it was hard to make out what she was saying. "I'm losing him!" Jessi yelled. "Nurse, I'm losing him!" The young Lieutenants heart rate was dropping rapidly. "I'm losing him, Nurse, I-" The boy's heart stopped completely. Jessi started breathing heavily. "Nurse, we have to-" But the nurse cut her off.

"Doctor Hutchins…" She looked at Jessi's emerald green eyes. "He's gone."

Doctor McCoy walked to where Jessi stood, shocked. She had never lost a patient before. "There was nothing you could have done." He said, seeing the look in her eyes.

"I could have saved him," Jessi whispered. "He could have still be alive. If only I wasn't so…"

"Doctor Hutchins, there was nothing you could do," Bines said trying to make her feel like it wasn't her fault. "His injuries were far too severe for any kind of-"

"_I could have saved him_!" Jessi yelled, without realizing her voice was raised. She quickly lowered it. "I could have saved him. But now… Now he's gone…"

"Jessi, there is no way you could have saved him!" Bones said. "You couldn't have done it, I couldn't have done it, none of us could have saved him. You tried."

"You don't see it the way I do." Jessi said. "I knew his family. He has two younger brothers, a sister, his parents… What do I tell them, McCoy? That I tried? Will it even matter to them? Of course it won't! Their oldest son is dead because of me." She straightened the unmoving Lieutenant's collar. "We used to call him Ricky…"

Jessi ran out of Sick Bay. She didn't want to be there. Her shift was pretty much over anyway. She ran right to her quarters that she shared with her friend, Liza. She collapsed onto her bed and would not get up. She didn't even think she could get up. She was too weak. Liza must have just left early, because her shift wasn't supposed to start for ten more minutes. But Jessi didn't care about work right now.

Lieutenant Richard Aster had been in engineering when there was some sort of explosion nearby. He was an engineer, and from what Jessi knew, a very good one. Her father had been friends with Ricky's father, and Jessi had played with him when they were very young. She never imagined that she would one day have his life in her hands. Even more, she never expected him to die on her watch.

She stayed on her bed, crying, because she didn't know what else to do. There really was nothing else to do. All she could do was think of all the things she should have done. What happens now? What will Starfleet think of me? I haven't even been on this ship for long, and someone's already died under my care…

Just then, Jessi's boyfriend, Pavel Chekov, came through the door. He seemed happy, as he usually was, and was talking about something funny that his friend did, when he turned and looked at Jessi. "What is wrong?" He looked at her with his soft eyes and she couldn't help but feel just a slight bit of happiness.

"Pavel…" She started sobbing again. "Somebody died in Sick Bay today… Someone under my care."

"Jessi, that is a part of being a doctor." He said. "You lose people sometimes. Sometimes there's nothing you can do."

"But I could have saved him!" Jessi said through tears. "There was something I could have done!"

"And what would that have been?" Pavel asked.

"Well, I could have… I might have… I don't know! But there was definitely another solution."

"Jessi, please. There was nothing you could do, and you just have to accept that." Pavel said. He touched her arm. "Jessi! You're freezing!" He pulled a blanket over Jessi and they both stayed on the bed and talked.

"You don't understand." Jessi said. "You're navigator, you don't have to deal with trying not to let people die right in front of you."

Chekov sat up angrily. "Do you not remember what happened on our first mission?" He said, raising his voice. "Commander Spock's mother was at my fingertips! The person who gave birth to him, and she died right in front of him, and the only thing I could do was sit there and let it happen!" He got up from the bed. "Do you remember that?" A memory flashed in Pavel's mind. He was frantically trying to beam everyone off this dying planet. _I'm losing her! I'm losing her! I've lost her..._ The image of Spock beaming up, with his arm reaching out for his mother whom he would never see again.

Jessi did remember that day, She remembered treating various members of the Vulcan high council, and watching Spock, who, if he was not Vulcan, would be described as angry. But Chekov felt horrible that day, because in the process of beaming up the Vulcan high council, Spock's mother had fallen off the edge of a cliff, and he couldn't lock on to her. Jessi didn't say anything.

"Do. You. Remember?" Chekov said, his face glowing red.

Jessi forced herself to stop crying. "Yes, of course I do."

Chekov shook his head and his voice broke. "You don't even care…" He turned and walked out of the room. Jessi wanted to stop him, but her mouth couldn't move, her body wouldn't run after him. What if he breaks up with me? Jessi closed her eyes, but she obviously wasn't going to sleep. She walked over to the replicator, and ordered a drink. It was going to be the first of many.

Chekov tried not to cry in front of anybody in the hallway, but it was getting really hard not to. He ran back to his room, where Hikaru was waiting for him.

"Hey Pavel I just-" He looked at Pavel's tear streaked face. "What happened to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Pavel said turning away from him. But Hikaru followed him.

"Come on, Pav. Talking will make it better." Hikaru said.

"I've already tried it, and it failed horribly." Chekov muttered under his breath.

Hikaru backed up a little bit. "Oh, this is about Jessi?" He said. "I heard about Lieutenant Aster. It's a shame. He seemed cool."

Pavel looked at Hikaru with his glowing green-blue eyes.

"Wait, are you and Jessi fighting?" He said.

"Yes, and I don't want to talk about it." Pavel said sitting in the bed. "Now shoo."

Hikaru looked at him, confused. "Did you just tell me to shoo?" He smiled a little bit. "What I'd give to hear that again."

"Good." Pavel said, getting up and trying to push him away from his bed. "Then get the hell away from me."

"Hey, Pavel! Take it easy man!" Hikaru said ignoring his futile attempts to push him away. Hikaru was a lot bigger than Pavel, and he wasn't going anywhere. Pavel eventually gave up.

"How can I 'take it easy?'" He yelled at Hikaru. "Jessi is the best thing that-" He cut himself off, lowered his voice, and looked down. "She was the best thing to ever happen to me. And I don't even think she understands me." He turned back to Hikaru. "And this is none of your business, so… Just… Go… See Liza or something. I wanna be by myself."

Hikaru nodded. He understood what his friend was going through, and he had already been of much annoyance. He had a shift soon anyway. "Alright. I'll be back in a few hours. Don't do anything stupid, and just give Jessi some time, she'll come back to you, trust me."

Pavel replied, but it was unclear because he had his face in a pillow. Hikaru shrugged and walked out to go find Liza in Engineering. Pavel turned around when he was sure Hikaru was gone and just stayed there, on his bed. He didn't know what else he could do. He knew Jessi didn't want to talk about it, and he really didn't either. But he couldn't stand not seeing her. He didn't want to lose her. Is this what every relationship is like? He thought about Spock and Uhura. They had a complicated, but beautiful relationship. Pavel had never had a relationship problem before, he hadn't even really had a relationship before. He checked the time. He had already been laying there for an hour and a half. I wonder what Jessi's doing. I hope she's okay. He felt bad about what he had said to her. She was already having a bad enough day. After a few more minutes he hauled himself off the bed. He felt heavier than usual. That's weird… He thought. He changed clothes, combed his hair, and walked over to Jessi's quarters.

He arrived at Jessi's quarters with a bottle of wine, and he was smiling, until he saw Jessi. She was leaning against the wall, drunk, and crying. "Jessi!" He picked her up and sat her down on the bed. "Jessi, what did you do?" He hugged her.

Jessi rested her head on his shoulder. "I don't know."

"Jessi, there was no way you could have saved him. If anyone else could have saved him, they wouldn't have assigned you to do it." Pavel said.

Jessi ruffled his curly hair. "I know. I just wanted you to come back." She cried.

Pavel let go of her for a minute. "Why didn't you tell me?" He said. "I would have came back if you told me."

"I didn't want you to break up with me." Jessi cried. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

Pavel tried to smile. "That's what I told Hikaru a little while ago." He said. "You are the best thing to happen to me. And I want it to stay that way. I didn't want to bother you because I thought you'd still be mad at me."

Jessi hugged him again. "I always love seeing you. No matter what I say."

Pavel looked at her again. "How much did you drink?"

Jessi thought for a minute. "I don't really know."

"What do people drink where you're from?" Pavel asked, curious.

Jessi looked at him. "You mean New Jersey?" She laughed. "Beer, mostly."

Pavel made a face. "How do you people like that? It tasted nasty to me. Is that what you've been drinking?"

Jessi laughed. "No."

"You shouldn't drink yourself mad whenever I do something stupid!" Chekov said.

"I didn't have that much." Jessi said, standing. She was surprisingly coordinated. "And I was acting pretty stupid, too."

"No, you weren't." Pavel said.

"Yes, I did." Jessi said, holding his hand. "And I'm really sorry for reminding you of that day. I'm a doctor. I'm supposed to treat wounds, not open old ones."

Chekov smiled at her. "I could never leave you. Even if I wanted to, you know I couldn't do it. And that day, while it was awful, I learned a lot. And I met you that day, remember?"

"I remember. I remember. It was only a few months ago." Jessi said.

"Do you remember our first date?" Pavel said.

"Yes. I would never forget it." Jessi smiled.

"You know what I was thinking after our first date?" Pavel said, his hand on Jessi's shoulder.

Jessi looked in his eyes. For the first time that day, they were happy. "What?"

"I was thinking," He kissed her cheek. "This is the girl I want to spend my entire life with. I knew you were perfect for me from the start."

Jessi didn't know what to say.

"You would be perfect for anybody." Pavel said. "Honestly, how the hell did you end up with me?" He said.

Jessi blushed and smiled. "Pavel, you were my first date." Pavel looked at her in disbelief. "I had been asked out before, but I knew what all those guys were after, and I really don't want a relationship like that." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I just want you."

Pavel kissed at her. "You know," He said. "This would make a great novel."

Jessi laughed.

"How does this sound," Pavel got up and clasped his hands behind his back. "Jessi Chekov?"

"It sounds great to me." Jessi said. "That's my future. I'll be Doctor Chekov. I like that."

"So do I." Pavel said nodding. "But It's been a long day. We should get some sleep, right?"

"Can you stay?" Jessi pleaded. "I don't want to be alone."

Pavel slipped under the covers and held her hand. "I would stay forever if you asked me to."

He kissed her forehead, and they both fell asleep.


End file.
